Irish Water Safety (IWS) presented Met Éireann with “The IWS Community & Social Responsibility Award” on Wednesday 28th November 2018 at Dublin Castle.
Roger Sweeney, CEO Irish Water Safety; Evelyn Cusack, Head of Forecast Division, Met Éireann; Seán Canney TD Minister of State for Community Development, Natural Resources and Digital Development
The Head of Forecasting in Met Éireann, Evelyn Cusack alongside colleagues Joanne Walker and Andrew Doran-Sherlock were there to accept the award. The award was presented by Mr. Seán Canney TD, Minister of State for Community Development, Natural Resources and Digital Development from the Department of Rural and Community Development.
Irish Water Safety are a statutory and voluntary body and registered charity established to promote water safety and reduce drownings in Ireland. Their focus is on Public Awareness and Education of water safety.
Met Éireann utilised our position of authority to publish Irish Water Safety advice on our website with a prominent link on our homepage to the Irish Water Safety website www.iws.ie from June to November and we also promoted IWS safety advice on our social media pages.
Thirty-six lives were saved from drowning by rescuers who received recognition at Irish Water Safety’s National Annual Awards Ceremony at the Hibernia Conference Centre, Dublin Castle on Wednesday 28th November 2018, 2.30pm – 5 pm. Mr Seán Canney TD, Minister of State at the Department of Rural & Community Development presented the “Seiko Just in Time Rescue Award” to the rescuers in appreciation for saving so many lives. ‘It is an honour to pay tribute to these courageous recipients. Tragically an average of 127 people drown in Ireland every year and although that’s 127 too many, the figure would be even higher but for the dramatic efforts of these individuals who saved others from drowning and the ongoing work of Irish Water Safety
volunteers teaching swimming and water rescue skills.”
Long-Service Volunteer Awards were presented to 63 volunteers, recognising a combined total of 1,315 years of service teaching swimming, water rescue and survival skills in communities nationwide. The work of Irish Water Safety’s volunteers in teaching and assessing Lifeguards pays dividends at our waterways every year, reflected in the fact that Lifeguards rescued 331 people from drowning this summer, administered first aid on 4,496 occasions and reunited 329 lost children found wandering unsupervised near water.” “I appeal to all adults to make themselves more aware of the dangers of drowning”, continued Minister Canney. “It only takes seconds for tragedy to strike and this can so easily be avoided if people learn about the hazards and take personal responsibility for their own safety. I ask that people encourage friends and family to read Irish Water Safety’s guidelines at www.iws.ie so that they have the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to avoid becoming a drowning statistic.”
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- Seán Canney TD, Evelyn Cusack, Martin O’Sullivan Chairman of IWS, Andrew Doran-Sherlock, Joanne Walker
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- Evelyn was honoured to have her photo taken with Finn Bell Ryan who won a SEIKO Just In Time award for saving the life of a three-year-old boy while on holiday in Portugal. He is the youngest ever recipient of this award.
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- Image of link to Irish Water Safety website www.iws.ie on our homepage during summer months